The Future of Comfort Food

A few months ago, I wrote a post describing how books are my mashed potatoes, my mac & cheese, my triple chocolate layered upside down cake (wha?)... in short, they are my comfort food. I have loved to read since I, well, learned to read. I belonged to my first book club before I even started elementary school. One constant in my life is that I can always lose myself in a bookstore and it's hard for me to visit one (or Target or Costco) and not leave with arms full of books and a big smile on my face. The launch of Amazon.com was a nearly orgasmic experience. ("You mean I can have books delivered directly to me with one-click??")

Well, comfort food has just been taken to the next level!

My wonderful husband surprised me with the new Amazon Kindle for my birthday and while I was initially skeptical about the whole electronic reader thing, I am happy to report that I am now completely sold. The device is gorgeous - so sleek, slim and lightweight. The reading experience is much better than I would have expected and I LOVE the built-in dictionary feature where you can hover over a word and immediately see its definition at the bottom of the "page".

I downloaded two full novels in about one minute and I devoured both of those books within about one week. The Kindle is perfect for a travel-heavy schedule because it's so easy to pack and it can literally be dozens of books in one. (Knowing my addiction to the printed word, you will understand how happy this makes me!)

The only slight downside is that the e-books are still rather spendy, with many coming in around the $10 mark. Hmmmm... a little hard to stomach when there isn't a physical item that will find its way to my already-full bookshelf for the rest of its foreseeable existence.

And now, when I read in bed at night before lights out, Special K giggles every time I "click" to turn a page... which is about every 30 seconds. Hey, he enabled my addiction in the first place. And I love him for it!